"Enuresis"

Matthew 20.26b-28 Complete Jewish Bible

“Among you, it must not be like that. On the contrary, whoever among you wants to be a leader must become your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave! For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve — and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

John and Mary’s son had a problem with enuresis. “Enuresis (bed-wetting) is the term used for urinating while asleep. It is considered normal until at least age 6.”[1] But John and Mary’s boy, Tommy, was 9 and still wetting his bed every night. The family referred to Tommy’s plastic diapers as “nighttime undies,” a term that caused less embarrassment to their son than “diapers.” John assumed Tommy would eventually outgrow bed-wetting and was not overly worried. However, Tommy’s age and the expense of Pull-ups caused John and Mary to reconsider their approach. “Perhaps we should take Tommy to the doctor,” Mary suggested. “I think they have medicine for this condition.” John agreed and mom arranged the appointment.

Instead of “medicine,” the family physician gave Tommy’s parents a “treatment plan.” John and Mary were surprised but caught on quickly. They discovered that most children who wet their beds are deep sleepers and have inherited small bladders. Mary and John knew their son was a deep sleeper and learned how to measure the size of Tommy’s bladder. Success with the “treatment plan” depended on serious and focused parental involvement:

• Stop using diapers or plastic Pull-ups
• Place a plastic cover on the mattress
• Measure the size of your child’s bladder
• Encourage a lot of daytime fluids to stretch the bladder
• Limit fluids in the evening
• Wake your child up to go to the bathroom during the night
• Teach the child to find the bathroom on his own after waking up
• Improve access to the toilet with night lights
• Have the child get up and change into dry pajamas if he wets the bed
• Include the child in morning clean-up of wet bed clothes and sheets
• Never tease, blame, or punish the child for bed-wetting

John and his wife became active with the “treatment plan” and Tommy soon overcame bed-wetting without the use of medicine. Together, the parents and their son experienced a real victory and wonderful feelings of mutual respect and love. Mary and John are convinced Tommy would still be wearing “nighttime undies” if it were not for the treatment plan. The “he’ll outgrow it” approach can be code for an unwillingness to get involved. It took sacrifice... a little research, thought, time, and energy to assist in their son’s success. But John and Mary did the right (parental) thing. Each showed themselves to be a real “leader” by becoming a “servant” to their son, Tommy.

Like “the Son of Man [who] did not come to be served, but to serve” parents are sent by God to serve their children and help them become successful in every area of their lives.
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The amazing paintings on this post are entitled "Sleeping Boy" and "Bed" (both oil on canvas, laid on board) and were created by Dublin born artist, Patrick Redmond, who studied at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology. 

[1] “Bed-Wetting (Enuresis),” Pediatric Advisor 2006.2, University of Michigan Health System, C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital.